Title: 🌐 1.4. What is the Internet of Things (IoT)?
Course: "Our networks, our security" Digital Security with a Gender Perspective > Section: Our internet, Our Rights: Basic Concepts

Imagine waking up in the morning and your alarm clock telling your coffee machine to start brewing. Your fridge notices you're low on milk and orders more. As you leave, your smart thermostat adjusts the temperature to save energy, and your car suggests a faster route to avoid traffic.

This isn’t just futuristic thinking—it’s happening today, thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT).

IoT is a vast network of physical devices—smartphones, cars, appliances, wearable gadgets, security systems, medical devices, and even entire cities—that connect to the internet and exchange data. These devices collect, process, and respond to information, making our lives smarter, more efficient, and automated.

How does it works?

Each IoT device is equipped with sensors that gather information, such as temperature, motion, sound, light, location, or even biometric data like heart rate. These sensors send data through the internet to other devices or cloud-based systems, where the information is analyzed. Based on that data, the system may take action—often without human involvement!

For example:

- A smart thermostat detects that nobody is home and lowers the temperature to save energy.
- A wearable fitness tracker records your steps, heart rate, and sleep patterns, sending the data to your smartphone or doctor.
- A factory machine senses that a part is overheating and alerts maintenance before a breakdown occurs.

Where Can You Find IoT in Action?

🏡 Smart Homes: Devices like Alexa, Google Nest, and Ring doorbells let you control lights, security, and appliances remotely.

🩺 Healthcare & Wearables: Smart insulin pumps adjust doses automatically, and hospital equipment monitors patients’ vital signs in real-time.

🚗 Smart Cities: Traffic lights adjust based on congestion, parking sensors direct drivers to open spots, and pollution monitors track air quality.

🚜 Agriculture & Industry: Farms use IoT to monitor soil moisture, while factories use predictive maintenance to reduce machine failures.

🏦 Finance & Retail: Smart credit cards detect fraud instantly, and stores use IoT to track inventory in real-time.

Is IoT safe? Security & privacy risks

As we will see later on the course, while IoT makes life easier, it also introduces major security and privacy challenges. Since billions of devices are connected, each one is a potential entry point for hackers. For example, IoT devices collect vast amounts of personal data, from your location to your health status. If this data isn’t properly secured, companies, cybercriminals or an intimate partner could misuse it.

Want to Learn More?

- IoT For All – A beginner-friendly blog covering the latest in IoT.
- Internet of Things Consortium – A network of companies shaping the future of IoT. (The National Science and Media Museum)

- MIT IoT Security Courses – Free courses on IoT cybersecurity and best practices. (European Digital Rigths)
- OWASP IoT Project – A security research group focused on IoT vulnerabilities.